Crystal Truth Movement
A growing cult based in the Seattle ruins, The Crystal Truth Movement has followers in all major settlements. Promising the removal of stress and the addition of headons, in actuality it is a pyramid scheme with all the money gained benefiting it's leader. History The Crystal Truth Movement was founded in 2239 by Quentin Lowe, a minor scammer and snake-oil salesman. Stumbling upon a cavern of crystals in late 2238, he almost immediately saw a way to make his fortune. Breaking off enough to fill a small bag, Lowe would travel to the various camps and communities preaching about the healing factors of the gems. He would find few buyers among the skeptical wasters, but pressed on regardless. He would have some success after three months, selling a dozen crystals and establishing a church in an abandoned restaurant. This would have the effect of bringing his contributors to him, and make him seem slightly more legitimate to others. By the end of 2239 his following would triple, and Lowe would be able to start repairing a mansion he claimed. He started writing tracts about the benefits of the crystals in early 2242, and began distributing them among his followers and nearby communities. This would add more followers over the months along with his increased missionary activities. By the end of the year, the Crystal Truth would be known in Emerald City, Chinatown, and Passage along with several other camps throughout the ruins. Lowe would focus on gaining the loyalty of his followers over the next few years, both by personal effort and by issuing tracts. When he could get his followers to step on hot coals with a word, he would deem his efforts complete for now. Thus he would spend 2244 and 2245 drilling the value of crystals into anyone that would listen, especially why you had to buy them. In 2246 he would take a handful of his most dedicated followers and invite them to live in his home to better learn how to focus the crystals. These would be Lowe's new focusers, with himself taking the title of High Focuser. With this hierarchy in place the Crystal Truth could grow faster while Lowe was free to stay at his house and write the literature for the group. By 2249 the Movement had over a hundred followers, including some second generation members. At the same time it would have an expanding body of rules and beliefs, with Lowe publishing new tracts and phamplets every few months. This would take the Crystal Truth from a gathering of the gulible to a full-fledged religion. It might have made them an isolationist cult as well, if it wasn't for Lowe's directive that they must try and convert their neighbors. The movement would leverage this increase in legitimacy to open a chapel in Emerald City in 2251, despite only having nine adherents there. This would start efforts by the other focusers to construct chapels & churches in their resident settlements, as well as starting missionary programs. Things would relatively peaceful for the church for the rest of the decade, as they expanded their flock and collected offerings. 2260 would see a heir named, Tom Reyek, the focuser who brought in the most caps every year. The movement would also establish a small print shop in 2262 to better spread Lowe's teachings. The shop would also publish others' works to pay for overhead, and would inadvertently print criticisms of the movement at times. The church would narrowly avoid a scandal in 2264 when a female follower approached Lowe about being sexually assaulted by Reyek. The woman in question would disappear after entering the headquarters of the Movement, with Lowe claiming that she withdrew her accusation and left the ruins for good out of shame. This would led to a series of murders and disappearances against critics and dissenters of the church. This purge totaled 19 lives by 2270, and almost included Reginald Morington, now the leader of an up-and-coming slaver band. The early 2270s would see the Movement launch a PR campaign to rebrand themselves, and would send Crystals with fighters heading off to the South. While these efforts had mixed results, their support of the local troops was enough to quiet any overt criticism. In 2277 scavenging truthers would come across a deactivated protectron in a radio station that caused their crystals to vibrate. Amazed the robot would be taken to Lowe and would speak with him for several hours. Afterwards Rez and several truthers would return to the station and start to repair it, getting back on the air a few months later. The Movement would now be able to reach a much wider audience with their message, and converts would increase over the next few years. This would be bolstered in 2281 when Patagonia Flatts, a fugitive DJ from the NCR arrived in Seattle and made contact with the Crystal Truth. Lowe, aware of this pseudo-celebrity would place the young man under Rez at the Crystal Voice. These two would function well despite some prank calls to other stations. The Movement would grieve in 2283 when Quentin Lowe died, but Reyek proved himself a competent leader, and the church would go on. One of his first acts was publishing a tract declaring that hedons could be gained by donation to the church besides the basics needed for survival. Since then he has consolidated his leadership in the Movement, and has begun to maneuver his followers to gain power in their settlements, but nothing has come of it yet. Organization The church is run by the High Focuser, who oversees operations and issues rules and literature through his focusers who are the next highest ranking members. These run the various chapels and churches of the Movement, and collect the donations to send to the High Focuser. A notable exception in the rankings in Rez, as he isn't programmed to preach, but to run the radio station and as such is given the rank of Resonator. Then there are the regular members who make the donations and try to reduce their negative hedons. Beliefs The underlying belief of the Crystal Truth Movement is that money should flow to the top. They hide this however with their namesake crystals and by promising they boost happiness. This is done by raising one's level of hedons, which are units of happiness, which can be done several ways, all of which usually revolve around giving money to the Movement. They also believe life originated in the oceans, that children become adults at twelve, and those not of their faith will steal happiness overtime. These and other beliefs alienate many of potential followers but has a definite appeal for some. Category:Cults Category:Groups Category:Cascadia